Green synthesis of gold nanoparticles from waste macadamia nut shells and their antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermis

Authors

  • Huu Dang Department of Physics, Energy Studies and Nanotechnology, School of Engineering and Energy, Murdoch Applied Nanotechnology Research Group, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia
  • Derek Fawcett Department of Physics, Energy Studies and Nanotechnology, School of Engineering and Energy, Murdoch Applied Nanotechnology Research Group, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia
  • Gerrard Eddy Jai Poinern Department of Physics, Energy Studies and Nanotechnology, School of Engineering and Energy, Murdoch Applied Nanotechnology Research Group, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20191320

Keywords:

Agricultural waste, Antibacterial, Gold nanoparticles, Green synthesis

Abstract

Background: The study for the first time demonstrates an eco-friendly and room temperature procedure for biosynthesizing gold (Au) nanoparticles from waste Macadamia nut shells. Currently Australia contributes around 40% to the global market and generates around AUS $150 million of export revenue. However, a consequence of large nut production is the generation of large quantities of waste nut shells. The green chemistry-based method is clean, nontoxic and eco-friendly. The method presented in this study produced a variety of Au nanoparticle sizes and shapes.

Methods: The straightforward green chemistry-based technique used waste Macadamia nut shells to generate Au nanoparticles, which were subsequently studied using several advanced characterization techniques. Furthermore, the Kirby-Bauer sensitivity method was used to evaluate the antibacterial properties of the extracts and synthesized gold nanoparticles.

Results: Advanced characterisation revealed the Au nanoparticles were crystalline, ranged in size from 50nm up to 2µm, and had spherical, triangular and hexagonal morphology. The gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli produced a maximum inhibition zone of 11mm, while Staphylococcus epidermidis produced a maximum inhibition zone of 9mm.

Conclusions: The study has shown that waste Macadamia nut shell extracts have no antibacterial activity, but the synthesised Au nanoparticles did display antibacterial activity to both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Thus, the present work has demonstrated a waste valorisation strategy that can be used to produce high-value Au nanoparticles with antimicrobial properties for use in future pharmaceuticals.

References

Cai W, Gao T, Hong H, Sun J. Applications of gold nanoparticles in cancer nanotechnology. Nanotechnol Sci Applicat. 2008;1:17.

Paciotti GF, Myer L, Weinreich D, Goia D, Pavel N, McLaughlin RE, et al. Colloidal gold: a novel nanoparticle vector for tumor directed drug delivery. Drug Delivery. 2004;11(3):169-83.

Cheng Y, Samia AC, Li J, Kenney ME, Resnick A, Burda C. Delivery and efficacy of a cancer drug as a function of the bond to the gold nanoparticle surface. Langmuir. 2009;26(4):2248-55.

Jain PK, Huang X, El-Sayed IH, El-Sayed MA. Noble metals on the nanoscale: optical and photothermal properties and some applications in imaging, sensing, biology, and medicine. Accounts Chemical Res. 2008;41(12):1578-6.

Sperling RA, Gil PR, Zhang F, Zanella M, Parak WJ. Biological applications of gold nanoparticles. Chemical Soc Reviews. 2008;37(9):1896-908.

Sýkora D, Kašička V, Mikšík I, Řezanka P, Záruba K, Matějka P, et al. Application of gold nanoparticles in separation sciences. J Separat Sci. 2010;33(3):372-87.

Ghosh SK, Pal T. Interparticle coupling effect on the surface plasmon resonance of gold nanoparticles: from theory to applications. Chemical Reviews. 2007;107(11):4797-862.

Puvanakrishnan P, Park J, Chatterjee D, Krishnan S, Tunnel JW. In vivo tumor targeting of gold nanoparticles: Effect of particle type and dosing strategy. Int. J. Nanomed. 2012;7:1251-8.

Azzazy HME, Mansour MMH, Samir TM, Franco R. Gold nanoparticles in the clinical laboratory: principles of preparation and applications. Clin. Chem. Lab Med. 2012;50:193-209.

Hernández-Sierra JF, Ruiz F, Pena DC, Martínez-Gutiérrez F, Martínez AE, Guillén AD, et al. The antimicrobial sensitivity of Streptococcus mutans to nanoparticles of silver, zinc oxide, and gold. Nanomed Nanotechnol Bio Med. 2008;4(3):237-40.

Dykman LA, Khlebtsov NG. Gold nanoparticles in biology and medicine: Recent advances and prospects. Acta Natur. 2011;3(2):34-55.

Cui Y, Zhao Y, Tian Y, Zhang W, Lu X, Jiang X. The molecular mechanism of action of bactericidal gold nanoparticles on Escherichia coli. Biomater. 2012;33:232.

Simon-Deckers A, Loo S, Mayne-L’hermite M, Herlin-Boime N, Menguy N, Reynaud C, et al. Size composition-and shape-dependent toxicological impact of metal oxide nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes toward bacteria. Environment Sci Technol. 2009;43(21):8423-9.

Seil JT, Webster TJ. Antimicrobial applications of nanotechnology: methods and literature. Int J Nanomed. 2012;7:2767-81.

Suganya KU, Govindaraju K, Kumar VG, Dhas TS, Karthick V, Singaravelu G, et al. Blue green alga mediated synthesis of gold nanoparticles and its antibacterial efficacy against Gram positive organisms. Materials Sci Eng C. 2015;47:351-6.

Ai J, Biazar E, Jafarpour M, Montazeri M, Majdi A, Aminifard S, et al. Nanotoxicology and nanoparticle safety in biomedical designs. Int J Nanomed. 2011;6:1117.

Shah M, Fawcett D, Sharma S, Tripathy S, Poinern GEJ. Green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles via biological entities. Materials. 2015;8:7278-308.

Malik P, Shankar R, Malik V, Sharma N, Mukherjee TK. Green chemistry based benign routes for nanoparticle synthesis. J Nanopartic. 2014; 2014.

Akhtar MS, Panwar J, Yun YS. Biogenic synthesis of metallic nanoparticles by plant extracts. ACS Sustainab Chem Eng. 2013;1:591-602.

Kulkarni N, Muddapur U. Biosynthesis of metal nanoparticles: A review. J Nanotechno. 2014; 2014.

Jorgensen JH, Turnidge JD. Susceptibility test methods: dilution and disk diffusion methods. In: Manual of clinical microbiology, 9th ed. Murray PR, Baron EJ, ed. ASM Press, Washington; 2007:1152-7.

Mittal AK, Chisti Y, Banerjee UC. Synthesis of metallic nanoparticles using plants. Biotech Advanc. 2013;31:346-56.

Hussain I, Singh NB, Singh A, Singh H, Singh SC. Green synthesis of nanoparticles and its potential application. Biotechno. Lett. 2016;38:545-60.

Shah M, Fawcett D, Sharma S, Tripathy S, Poinern GEJ. Green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles via biological entities. Materials. 2015;8:7278-308.

Pasca RD, Mocanu A, Cobzac SC, Petean I, Horovitz O, Tomoaia-Cotisel M. Biogenic synthesis of gold nanoparticles using plant extracts. Particul. Sci Technol. 2014;32:131-7.

Yang N, WeiHong L, Hao L. Biosynthesis of Au nanoparticles using agricultural waste mango peel extract and its in vitro cytotoxic effect on two normal cells. Mater Lett. 2014;134:67-70.

Dubey SP, Lahtinen M, Sillanpaa M. Tansy fruit mediated greener synthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles. Process Biochem. 2010;45:1065-71.

Ghodake G, Deshpande N, Lee Y, Jin E. Pear fruit extract-assisted room-temperature biosynthesis of gold nanoplates. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 2010;75:584-9.

Singh C, Sharma V, Naik PK, K Handelwal V, Singh H. A green biogenic approach for synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles using Zingiber officinale. Dig J Nanomat Biostructur. 2011;6(2):535-42.

Mocanu A, Horovitz O, Racz P, Tomoaia-Cotisel M. Green synthesis and characterization of gold and silver nanoparticles. Rev Roum Chim. 2015;60(7-8):721-6.

Firdhouse MJ, Lalitha P. Flower-shaped gold nanoparticles synthesized using Kedrostis foetidissima and their antiproliferative activity against bone cancer cell lines. Int J Ind Chem. 2016;7(4):347-58.

Pasca RD, Mocanu A, Cobzac SC, Petean I, Horovitz O, Tomoaia-Cotisel M. Biogenic syntheses of gold nanoparticles using plant extracts. Particul. Sci. Technol. 2014;32(2):131-7.

Iravani S. Green synthesis of metal nanoparticles using plants. Green Chem. 2011;13:2638-50.

Poinern GEJ, Le X, Chapman P, Fawcett D. Green biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles using the leaf extracts from an indigenous Aus Plant Eucalyptus Macrocarpa. Gold Bulletin. 2013;46:165-73.

Narayanan KB, Sakthivel N. Coriander leaf mediated biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles. Mater. Lett. 2008;62(30):4588-90.

Baker S, Rakshith D, Kavitha KS, Santosh P, Kavitha HU, Rao Y, et al. Plants: emerging as nanofactories towards facile route in synthesis of nanoparticles. Bio Impacts: BI. 2013;3(3):111.

Gan PP, Li SFY. Potential of plant as a biological factory to synthesize gold and silver nanoparticles and their applications. Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol. 2012;11:169-206.

Duan H, Wang D, Li Y. Green chemistry for nanoparticle synthesis. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2015;44:5778-92.

Hernández-Sierra JF, Ruiz F, Pena DC, Martínez-Gutiérrez F, Martínez AE, Guillén AD, et al. The antimicrobial sensitivity of Streptococcus mutans to nanoparticles of silver, zinc oxide, and gold. Nanomed Nanotech Bio Med. 2008;4(3):237-40.

MubarakAli D, Thajuddin N, Jeganathan K, Gunasekaran M. Plant extract mediated synthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles and its antibacterial activity against clinically isolated pathogens. Colloids and surfaces B: Biointer. 2011;85(2):360-5.

Downloads

Published

2019-03-27

How to Cite

Dang, H., Fawcett, D., & Poinern, G. E. J. (2019). Green synthesis of gold nanoparticles from waste macadamia nut shells and their antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermis. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 7(4), 1171–1177. https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20191320

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles